sleepylit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Suicide, Police brutality, Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, and Trafficking
meaghanpal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The way I realized the author writes mysteries is with light cliffhangers. The chapters are short and alternate points of view. Each chapter ends with a bit of a longing for wanting more but it’s not so much that you’ll get nightmares or stay up all night thinking about it if you don’t read the whole book in one sitting.
To some extent, I enjoyed that for the health of my sleeping habits. But on the other hand, I think the best mysteries on the ones I couldn’t put down.
Spoiler
The big twist that they were a family really got me that had a lot of shock factor. But after that the subsequent twists I semi expected. For instance the connection between the housekeeper character and the granddaughter seemed the most obvious. The wine cellars being used as a way to pay for women was not surprising. The fact that Ben was still alive was kind of shocking although I did suspect the dad was in fact killed but that Ben probably also was killed.Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infertility, Alcoholism, Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking
jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Abortion, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
black_cat_iiix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Trafficking
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Blood, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Stalking, Car accident, Deportation, and Suicide
bringmybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷
I told my friend that I had never read any of Lucy Foley's books but had borrowed The Paris Apartment and The Guest List from the library - she told me she much preferred The Guest List (and most other people seem to feel the same way) - so I thought, "Ok, well then I'll read The Paris Apartment first, so it can only go up from here!"
And, well, let's hope it goes up from here. This one was very middle of the road for me, a lot a lot a lot a lot of content warnings (some unnecessary, imo) but there were a couple of twisty twists so I guess that's fun.
It's hard to say "Oh, I don't think you should read this," because it's a fast paced, quick read, and if you super enjoy that kind of suspenseful thriller book I think you might like it. But at the same time if someone asks me to recommend them a suspense / thriller book, this isn't the first (or second .... or third) one I would go for.
Now on to The Guest List...!
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Trafficking
Moderate: Kidnapping, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Infertility, Violence, and Cursing
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Classism, Trafficking, Cursing, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, and Grief
fraise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Stalking, Violence, Death, Fatphobia, Classism, Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Police brutality, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Trafficking, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Deportation, Homophobia, and Pregnancy
growintogardens's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Rape, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Infertility
Minor: Drug abuse, Police brutality, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Homophobia
prairieraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, and Drug use
lakea's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Alcoholism, and Police brutality
Moderate: Trafficking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Child death, Suicide, Stalking, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide